Production duo Stu Bangas and Vanderslice have been providing beats for the underground set for the last couple of years, and with their debut album, Diggaz With Attitude, they call on some of those same collaborators to return the favor. With a guest list that reads like the HipHopSite.Com 12” vinyl section circa 2002, a strong team of now seasoned emcees helps round out the duo’s brand of brooding production.

With many fan favorites in the mix, there are some classic posse cuts included herein. By far the album’s greatest achievement is “The Gusto”, which boasts a guest list of Evidence, Roc Marciano, Apathy, and Alchemist, which, if you aren’t reading the tracklist as you listen, leaves your jaw on the floor with the arrival of each new emcee. The same can be said for the similarly styled “Half Dead”, which again teams Apathy with Roc Marciano, as well as Planet Asia. Later on “1st Degree”, Roc Marciano chimes in once again, sharing mic duties with Celph Titled and Vinnie Paz, while the dire “Death Wish” with Wais P, Ill Bill and Blaq Poet helps round out this series as some of the best underground posse cuts in recent memory.

Some of the other collaborations aren’t as much of a stretch, such as “Pharoah Status” with AOTP members Esoteric and DC trading barbs, or “The Realest”, which is essentially a La Coka Nostra 2012 cut. While these tracks satisfy, the album does have it’s share of filler, as we’ve heard better tracks in the past from Blacastan (“Spy Hunter”), Reef The Lost Cauze (“Black Lung Rap” or Wais P (“Okay, Player”), than what is presented here.

But while Stu and Vander draw their strengths largely from their collaborators, really what Diggaz With Attitude is meant to do is show off their production skill, and it accomplishes this. While the album is not a certified classic, for a compilation record, it does a great job of sewing everything together like a true album, and is a sign of even greater things from the duo yet to come.